Park Gang-su, Mayor of Mapo District, Improves Private Contract Operations to Expand Local Business Participation Opportunities

[Seoul District News] Mapo-gu to Operate 'Private Contract Practical Verification TF' from September for Additional Verification of Amounts and Vendor Eligibility & Limit Private Contracts with Same Vendor to 4 Times Annually District-wide, 2 Times per Department to Break Habitual Private Contract Practices... Geumcheon-gu Accepts Candidates for 11th Geumcheon Entrepreneur Award... Jung-gu Runs Capacity Building Programs for Prospective and Early-stage Entrepreneurs

Park Gang-su, Mayor of Mapo District

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Mapo-gu (Mayor Park Gang-su) announced that it will implement the "Improvement Plan for the Operation of Private Contracts" starting this September to ensure transparent and fair budget execution and to expand participation opportunities for various local businesses.

Since his inauguration, Mayor Park Gang-su of Mapo-gu has vowed to eradicate all local corruption that complicates contract and administrative processes, such as illicit methods and vested interest interventions. He has ordered the establishment of the most honest and fair contract system so that Mapo-gu officials can work with conviction solely for the coexistence with residents.

Accordingly, the district has established a system to break the repetitive private contract practices with the same companies and to increase contract rates with local companies possessing excellent technical skills and price competitiveness.

The main points of the newly established system include ▲ operation of the ‘Private Contract Practical Verification TF’ ▲ strengthening restrictions on the number of private contracts with the same company ▲ raising the authority for contract issuance approval ▲ sharing contract status data through a system.

The ‘Private Contract Practical Verification TF’ is composed of audit officers, general affairs, planning and budget, and finance team leaders with diverse practical experience. This adds a dual safety mechanism to the existing contract review by including ▲ review of contractor qualifications ▲ appropriateness of contract amounts ▲ re-verification of project feasibility.

Measures to prevent the practice of contracting disproportionately with specific companies have also been strengthened.

Last year, the number of single-person private contracts in Mapo-gu was 1,013, accounting for 83.5% of all contracts. To allow various local small business owners to participate in these single-person private contracts, the number of contracts with the same company has been adjusted.

For Mapo-gu as a whole, the limit on private contracts with companies within Mapo-gu has been adjusted from 5 times per department per year to 4 times per district per year, and for companies outside Mapo-gu, the limit has been significantly tightened from 4 times per department per year to 3 times per district per year. By department, the number of private contracts with the same company has been adjusted from 5 times per year to 2 times per year.

In addition, internal checks and balances will be strengthened during company selection. The Seoul Mapo-gu Office’s administrative approval rules will be revised so that contracts over 10 million KRW require approval by the director, raising the approval authority.

Furthermore, the contract status will be posted monthly on the Mapo-gu officials’ administrative network to support transparent company selection.

Mayor Park Gang-su of Mapo-gu said, “Through this improvement in private contract operations, we will do our best to prevent unnecessary misunderstandings such as officials or approvers arbitrarily selecting companies and to realize transparent contract administration.”

Geumcheon-gu (Mayor Yoo Sung-hoon) is accepting nominations for candidates for the ‘11th Geumcheon Entrepreneur Award’ until September 8.

The ‘Geumcheon Entrepreneur Award’ is presented annually to encourage local entrepreneurs who have contributed to the development and revitalization of the local economy and to instill pride as members of the local community.

Nominees must be entrepreneurs who have operated a business with a factory or main office in Geumcheon-gu for more than two years and have contributed to local economic revitalization and community development. However, those who have previously received the Geumcheon Entrepreneur Award, those awarded the mayor’s commendation within the last three years, those with outstanding local tax arrears, or those subject to social criticism are excluded.

Candidates can be jointly nominated by 20 or more Geumcheon residents or entrepreneurs (employees), or recommended by heads of business-related institutions, organizations, or community leaders. Nomination forms and achievement reports can be downloaded from the ‘Notices & Announcements’ section of the Geumcheon-gu Office website, completed, and submitted along with supporting documents to the district’s Regional Economy Division or the local community service center.

The final winners will be decided through deliberation by the ‘Entrepreneur Award Evaluation Committee,’ and the award ceremony will be held at the Geumcheon Residents’ Day celebration in October. Awardees will receive a plaque and benefit from additional points (3 to 5 points) when applying for the Geumcheon Small and Medium Business Development Fund.

Mayor Yoo Sung-hoon of Geumcheon-gu said, “We hope this award will serve as an opportunity to reward entrepreneurs who have contributed to local economic revitalization,” and “We ask for many nominations so that entrepreneurs who have made significant contributions to Geumcheon-gu’s development can be selected.” For more details, please contact the Regional Economy Division of Geumcheon-gu Office.

Jung-gu, Seoul (Mayor Kim Gil-seong) is conducting startup acceleration in cooperation with private accelerators at the Chungmu Startup Cube, a youth entrepreneurship center.

Opened and operated by Jung-gu Office since 2018, the ‘Chungmu Startup Cube’ supports youth startups through systematic entrepreneurship education and expert mentoring.

This startup acceleration program is recruiting six companies nationwide targeting prospective and early-stage startups. The selection process includes ‘public recruitment ▲ first document screening ▲ second presentation evaluation ▲ final selection,’ with evaluators consisting of judges from startup investment and support institutions such as accelerators and venture capitalists.

Selected companies will undergo a three-month acceleration process that includes systematically structured IR (Investor Relations) capability enhancement training and intensive mentoring to develop core business competencies.

In the final stage, Private IR (one-on-one meetings between companies and investors) will be held, where active investment evaluators will participate directly, providing opportunities to receive investment.

Applications are open until the 30th and can be submitted online via QR code or by emailing the business plan. For more details, please contact Chungmu Startup Cube.

Starting in October, Jung-gu plans to additionally provide basic lectures on YouTube channels, cross-border e-commerce business models, and Smart Store operations for prospective and early-stage entrepreneurs within Jung-gu Office, reflecting trends in the non-face-to-face era.

Mayor Kim Gil-seong said, “It is important to provide opportunities for prospective and early-stage companies to grow and to create a virtuous cycle environment that generates additional employment,” adding, “We will continue to develop various policies to help early-stage companies grow well in Jung-gu.”